The little church with the big heart forges ahead

About a hundred years ago, a blacksmith shop stood at the southeast corner of what is now Daniel Island Drive and Seven Farms Drive. It was a place where those working the land on Daniel Island would come to have their farming tools and equipment repaired.

Today, there is still forging taking place on this site, but it is more a forging of souls. And the experience is welding a true sense of community and belonging for those who take part. On this spot sits the Church of the Holy Cross, an Episcopal congregation that will soon celebrate the 10th anniversary of its consecration on Daniel Island.

In 2004, construction began on what some might describe as “a field of dreams” on Daniel Island. The Daniel Island Company had donated land for a new church to the local Episcopal Diocese. Initial plans called for 50 families from each of the Diocese’s three East Cooper locations - Holy Cross Sullivan’s Island, Christ Church and St. Andrew’s, to join together to start a new mission on Daniel Island. But Rev. John Burwell of Holy Cross had another suggestion.

“I said what if we took a church with existing horsepower and let it take this (new) building and make a branch of itself?” recalled Burwell, who recently retired from his post as lead rector at Holy Cross Sullivan’s Island.

The lead Bishop at the time, the Right Rev. Edward L. Salmon, agreed and the newest arm of the church’s larger Sullivan’s Island location would soon rise west of the Wando River on Daniel Island. Across the street from the site, plans for the island’s first affordable housing complex, now known as 305 Seven Farms Apartments, were well underway (construction was completed in 2006). On the northwest corner, Daniel Island Academy was already enrolling students in its brand new preschool, and Providence Baptist Church was about four years into its life as the first congregation in the island’s modern day development. The Church of the Holy Cross would seek to fill its own niche in the community.

“We’ll offer a quality experience the first Sunday instead of having to grow into it,” said Rev. Burwell, in a 2004 Daniel Island News article about the new facility. “I’m excited as the dickens to be there…Holy Cross is a great church. I’ve been here 17 years. It’s a glorious place, and I can’t wait to bring it across the creek.”

Holy Cross officially opened its doors for worship on Daniel Island on April 30, 2006, offering both traditional and contemporary services. Priests serving at Holy Cross would rotate among the church’s locations on Sullivan’s Island, Daniel Island, and I’On in Mount Pleasant - ministering to all of its congregants.

“I remember the day we opened,” said Rev. Burwell recently. “Most of the people in attendance were people who were Holy Cross members who went to Sullivan’s Island, and many lived in Mount Pleasant. We had very few Daniel Islanders that first Sunday…About 200 people attended that service. The second Sunday we had about 50 people. Those were the ones who stayed. From that we grew a great congregation and it became an island church.”

“I was a part of Holy Cross Daniel Island when it was just an idea,” added Emily Kenan, who has been working as the church’s on-site campus coordinator since 2007. “It’s easy to look back from today and see God’s handiwork, but ten years ago looking forward was a blank slate that took a true leap of faith. It is out of that profound faith that our Daniel Island church was born and the nourishment upon which its growth and development has been raised.”

Daniel Island residents John and Carol Dalrymple moved to the community the year before Holy Cross opened on the island. When the first services were offered, both were there to take part.

“The thing that I found to be the most favorable thing when I started going there was the friendliness of the church,” said John. “That’s what impressed us the most.”

Pam and John Tiencken, also Daniel Island residents, have been there from the start as well. Their daughter, Beth Dennis and her husband, Andrew, also attend. John and Pam lead an adult Sunday school class at the church (along with the Dalrymples), and Pam has served on the Vestry and is part of the Sunday prayer team.

“Frankly, 10 years is not a long time in the life of a church,” said John, who is also part of a weekly’s men’s Bible study there. “After all, our faith is 2000 years old and counting. I am sure not sure I can say how much our church has evolved in that short period of time. What I know is this is a place that welcomes everyone, a place where truth is told and where compassion is offered. It is not so much changing as it is growing.”

In the years that followed the church’s first services on the island, it has indeed grown - not in terms of space, but in its offerings. The site hosts an accredited preschool (known as HIS School), youth camps, weddings, baptisms, funerals, an annual Blessing of the Animals, an Easter Sunrise service at a local park, life groups, lectures, picnics and festivals with live music, recovery programs, and more. It also provides much needed gathering space for groups like the Boy Scouts, the Daniel Island Historical Society, the Daniel Island Exchange Club, the Daniel Island Neighborhood Association, and St. Clare of Assisi Catholic Church (for morning masses during the week). Many who drive by the church in the evenings will notice it is rare not to see the lights on and activity bustling inside.

Rev. Jonathan Bennett, who first joined the Holy Cross staff back in 2006, became the Daniel Island campus pastor about a year ago. Holy Cross helped Bennett and his family relocate to the island, so they could become part of the community. It was an important step for the church, said Bennett, because it meant the campus would have its own intentional pastor and it would be more than a satellite location of the larger church.

“It has to be a church for the community,” he said. “Part of that is having a pastor who lives on the island, works on the island, plays on the island…I think it’s really had an impact. Our numbers have been steadily growing throughout the year. I’m excited about it. I think it’s just the beginning really. My hope is to be here a long time!”

In addition to being a “community hub,” added Bennett, Holy Cross on Daniel Island has sought to minister beyond its walls. They provide outreach to residents at 305 Seven Farms Apartments across the street. They take part in services at the outdoor “Bridge Church” downtown, beneath the I-26 overpass, providing meals to those less fortunate and leading worship. They have started a scholarship fund for children whose families might not otherwise be able to afford to enroll them in HIS School and they are hoping to add scholarship opportunities for summer camps as well.

“It’s not been a huge emphasis of the church,” said Rev. Bennett. “But I think it’s something that’s going to grow as we seek to be more outwardly minded.”

“Rev. Burwell’s model of the church was we exist for those who aren’t yet here,” added Carol Dalrymple. “We’re not just there for people who are members or professed Christians…and I think that’s important for what we do.”

All of their activities and planning are focused on the church’s new vision, added Rev. Bennett. It’s about making disciples who are then empowered to go and make new disciples.

"It’s really the commission that we’re given by Jesus,” he said.

“Although this anniversary is a wonderful opportunity to appreciate the past ten years, this celebration is really about the enthusiasm for what’s to come,” added Kenan. “With the Great Commission at our core (Matthew 28: 18-20), we’re a work in progress, always evolving. And that’s exciting!”

Rev. Burwell, who will be taking part in the church’s anniversary celebration this Sunday, April 24, couldn’t agree more.

“It’s been a long time,” he said, reflecting on the church’s early days. “But I can remember so well when it wasn’t there…We were laying the foundation, looking at the strip of land there and trying to imagine what it was going to look like. There was nothing but some scrub trees and a couple of nice Live Oaks…It turned out better than I ever imagined. It’s like having children and watching them grow up well. It’s wonderful.”

And as Holy Cross Daniel Island continues to live out its purpose, it seems fitting to reflect on the significance of another message from the Bible, found in Proverbs, chapter 27, verse 17. It is one that harkens back to what came before on this special spot on the corner, where iron was being shaped and melded to make things new. A century later, the mission is still the same.

“As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.”

Want to go?

Join Holy Cross on Daniel Island in commemorating the church’s 10th Anniversary!

Church Celebration Sunday, April 24, 2016 • 10:15 a.m.

Community Celebration Sunday, May 22, 2016 • 3 p.m.

Free choral concert by The Kings Counterpoint